Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth; for His word is truth. Amen

First Sunday after Christmas (2010)

No Longer a Slave to Sin Rev. Toby Byrd

Galatians 4:4-7 (ESV)

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. [6] And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"[7] So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

The Epistle Reading for this First Sunday after Christmas is truly a magnificent testimony to the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Within the pages of Holy Scripture, it shines as one of the most glorious of all Christmas texts—a text full of meaning as it points to God’s plan to liberate all mankind from their captivity to sin. When St. Paul wrote these inspired words to the congregations in Galatia there is no doubt that the day we now celebrate as Christmas was clearly on his mind. The Apostle Paul must have thought, of all the messages I could send to my beloved people of Galatia none can surpass the message of their freedom in Christ. You see, the people of Galatia were among those to whom St. Paul evangelized on his first missionary journey and they had received the Gospel truth with great joy and eagerness. However, after Paul’s departure, false teachers had invaded their ranks causing the truth of the Gospel to be subverted with a corresponding result of doctrinal instability and vacillation in the congregations of Galatia. This was a serious matter, a matter of spiritual life or death to those in Galatia. Therefore, in order to correct this situation, St. Paul wrote this letter. In this letter St. Paul reaches a climax, inviting the Galatians to look both backward and forward in time and inward and upward spiritually as he addresses their needs with this wonderful Christmas Gospel.

Among the most disturbing questions in people’s minds are questions regarding God. It isn’t an accident that newspapers and magazines often feature articles with a spiritual note. These articles illustrate the questions that are on peoples minds. Questions such as; “Who is God? What do we know about God? What happened at the beginning? If God made us, why did He make us? Why did He put us here? Is God really interested in us? Does He have a plan for our lives? Where are we headed? Is there a God? How can faith and science be reconciled? Should I believe in God?” These and so many more are the questions posed by numerous periodicals in the world. These are the questions St. Paul touches on in his Christmas Epistle—the questions that trouble man’s heart and soul.

Although not the central point in his epistle, St. Paul answers the question, “Who is God?” He does so by giving us a brief description of the Person of God. He says, “God sent forth his Son” (v. 4), and then he adds, “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" (v. 6). Therefore, in giving us this sketch of God’s Person, the Apostle makes a clear reference to the three Persons of the Holy Trinity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As we worship here today you and I should never think of God, as do so many others as some vague, hazy Spirit, a mere Force or Power in nature, the great unknown god as St. Paul reminded the Greeks; but we should always think of God as a personal Being existing from eternity, a personal Being with intellect and will, with the power of action and decision, with almighty, creative energy and infinite love—one God, only one—yet three separate and distinct Persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, working in unison to save man from his sin, for now and eternity.

In addition, St. Paul unfolds a second point in describing God. In his Christmas epistle St. Paul not only tells us of the Person of God, but he also unveils the plan of God. He writes; “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (vv. 4-5). The expression, “when the fullness of time had come” illustrates that God had a plan. In the councils of the Holy Trinity, this plan was conceived in eternity. It began with God’s divine plan to create. In order to manifest His wisdom, His goodness, and His power (Psalm 104:24; 136:5-9), God created. In order for God to share His life and His love, God said: “Let us make man in our image” Genesis 1:26 ESV). Thus, out of His abounding and unlimited love, God creates man; granting to him the very life of God, the very life of love.

Therefore, it was God’s original plan in eternity that we should be like Him; created in His image, without sin, perfect in righteousness and holiness, being like God, thinking and talking in the way and manner of God, linked with God in perfect, divine love. Unfortunately, as we all know, man spoiled God’s plan by falling into sin; by allowing a false teacher to enter the Church, deceiving the congregation into sinning against their Creator. However, God was not to be deterred; His plan allowed for this contingency; man’s fellowship with God would not be lost. God resolved to send His Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity to redeem fallen man, achieving for us what we are incapable of accomplishing; earning forgiveness and reconciliation with God. Continuing the completion of that plan today, God sends the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, into our hearts, to bring us to faith in the One who has redeemed us; Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. It is only through faith in Christ Jesus that we can enter once more into a harmonious relationship with God! Through God’s means of grace, Holy Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and God’s saving word of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit affects that faith in us; renewing and restoring God’s divine image within us, step by step, nursing us along to a point where we will desire to reflect God in our lives with a life of unselfish love in our relationship with others. This is God’s plan—to bring us to faith in the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ and then, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, to lead us to witness His love for us to an ever-increasing number of people so they, too, may share in God’s plan of love and salvation for all humanity.

St. Paul paints this mural of God’s plan when he says, “when the fullness of time had come,” [that is, when God had prepared the world through His prophets and set the stage through His providence] “God sent forth his Son, born of woman” (v. 4). This language by St. Paul sounds strange to our ears because we don’t speak this way. Who makes a point that the birth of some child is a result of being born of a woman? We don’t make this distinction because for man there is no other way to be born into this world. Yet, St. Paul makes this distinction, because the plan of God called for a miraculous conception by the power of the Holy Spirit. In this manner the Second Person of the Trinity took upon Himself our human nature; and, as St. Paul continues, this Son of God came, “to redeem those who were under the law.” This is you and me and all mankind, who by our sins have violated the Law of God and exposed ourselves to its dread penalty. Christ by His perfect fulfillment of the Law and by His death as an atoning sacrifice redeemed us from the curse of the Law, “that we might receive adoption as sons.” Through faith in the merit of Christ and the indwelling working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we are adopted by God, made His children and brought into His glorious family. You are no longer a slave to sin but an heir to God’s heavenly Kingdom.

Furthermore, in his Christmas epistle, St. Paul not only creates a portrait of God, His Person and His plan, but he also paints a portrait of the spiritually mature child of God, the Christian. It is a picture that shows how you should look once you’re related to God through faith in Christ and through the working of the Holy Spirit in your heart and soul through the Gospel.

This portrait displays clearly how you have been liberated from servitude and elevated to sonship in His family. You might ask, “What does this mean?” In his letter to the Galatians, as an illustration of his point, St. Paul presents a comparative reality of his day. At the beginning of this section of his letter, he writes, “I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world” (Galatians 4:1-3 ESV). Through birth, the son becomes an heir, but he could not use his father’s possessions until the appointed time; until that time he was under the tutelage of guardians and managers who taught him the ways of man. Therefore, with this illustration, St. Paul takes an example from the daily life of his readers, illustrating the relation of Old Testament believers in the Law in order to show what object God had in imposing such restrictions on His children.

These believers were indeed children of God and heirs of the promise. Through faith in the promised Messiah they were in possession of all the heavenly gifts and blessings, of full salvation. However, spiritually they were minors; they had not yet come to a mature understanding of God’s counsels and plans; they were restricted under tutors and curators to the “elementary principles of the world”; the letter of the Law. Thus St. Paul rejects and condemns with this little word “elementary” the entire righteousness of the Law which lay in these “principles,” these external ceremonies; even though God had ordained and commanded them to be kept for a while. He tells us in his letter to the Colossians, “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—"Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Col. 2:20-23 ESV).

This was the condition of God’s Old Testament people: they were His dear children, heirs of the promise, and they were saved through faith in Christ; however, they were not yet in full enjoyment of their status as God’s children and of their inheritance. God had laid a yoke upon their necks, the Law of Moses with its many statues and commandments, with its priests, sacrifices, purifications, etc. Therefore, they did not yet have free access to the Father, because these statutes stood between them and God. This heir but not yet possessors condition was the status the people had to endure for a time, being under guardians and trustees until the appointed time of God.

However, in the life of every Hebrew boy the day comes when the father finally says, “Now, my son, you have reached maturity; now you are no longer under the control of tutors and guardians; now it is for you to live you own life; now you shall begin to enjoy your inheritance.” Such is the case with God and His redeemed children. The day of freedom has come; Christmas has arrived.

Providing us with a portrait of the Christian man, St. Paul describes him as a free, liberated child of God. As we worship this morning in the afterglow of Christmas, we should understand and be grateful for this spiritual freedom granted us by our heavenly Father through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as free and true heirs of God we do not attend worship, receive Holy Communion, or serve God or man because we have to, coerced by some pending penalty. Instead, as a liberated child of God we do these things through a compulsion of love. The must of your life has been replaced by the compelling power and love of the Gospel, which leads us to say, “I want to do these things.” For the Gospel has freed us from the Law. Thus, we are no longer slaves to the Law but free and redeemed children of the Gospel, heirs of God’s kingdom of Glory through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whose birth we just celebrated. Granted this freedom, we are then compelled to live our lives according to the Gospel, bringing the love of Christ to others.

Luther reminds us that, “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none and a Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” Moreover, St. Paul reminds us, “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them” (1 Cor. 9:19 ESV). Thus, every mature Christian must consider their faith as a divine calling; called to proclaim the Gospel to others through their unselfish love and their witness of Christ. Martin Luther mentions five callings: first, your calling as a husband and father or wife and mother. As a parent, your divine calling to proclaim the Gospel and witness of Christ to others begins in your own home. Second, you have this calling as a citizen in your community; third, you have this calling in your occupation; fourth, you have this calling in your church membership and it is expressed through your love strengthening other members and in turn, strengthening the church. The fifth calling is your social responsibility. Therefore, in every area of life, you, as an heir of God, are to carry the spirit of Christmas to others so they too may be set free from the bondage to the Law and enjoy the Gospel freedom as children of God. You are able to do this because you are no longer a slave to sin, but a redeemed and liberated child of God. Amen.

May the Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.